Improved railway-car coupling



0. D. WUODRUFF.

Car Coupling.

Ptemed June 8,1869'.

O.,D. WOODRUFF. OF SOUTHINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 90,977, lated June 8, 1869.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-CAR COUPLING.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Ratent and making part of.thesame To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, O. D. WOODRUFF, of Sont-hington, in the county ofHartford, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Car-Couplings; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of my invention.

My invention consists in arranging a slotted spring in a cavity in theunder side of the draw-head, to hold the aforesaid pin in place, which-can be partially removed at pleasure, and the commoncoupling-pininserted.

It also consists in combining, with the aforesaidpin and spring, a leverconnected by a rod to the car-platform, from which it can be readilyoperated.

A A designate the draw-heads, and

B, the ordinary coupling-link.

C designates the pin, which is bevelled at o, and is provided with asmall projection, crand is iitted to slide in the inclined slot D, andheld in place by the spring E. y

e designates a lever, which has its fulcruln at li, and is connectedwith the car-platform by the rod k.

As the oars slack their speed, the brakexnan, standing on the platform,has simply to pull the rofl L, which will lower the spring E, and allowthe pin C, of its own weight, to drop out ofthe way of the link B, andpermit it to be withdrawn.

As the cars are brought together, lthe coupling-link B, being previouslyleft or placed in one of the drawheads A, will strike the bevelled endof the pin C, and

`drive said pin downward, and allow the link B to pass -the pin, when'the spring E will raise the same into its proper position. v

When there is any draught ou the link B, it presses or draws against theinclined surface of the pin C, and

prevents the same from working downwards, but to make the saine doublysure, I provide the end with the projection c.

To provide against accidents, I make a hole,m,'in the upper part of thedraw-head A, in which hole, m., an ordinary couplinglpin can be insertedwhen desired.

. lhe spring E is slotted at n, in order that the same can be slippedback, out of the way of the ordinary pin, when the said pin may beinserted.

To strengthen the lower portion of the draw-head, I cast in awrought-metal link, o, around the slot D. To cast this link o in thedraw-head A, I provide the pattern, from which the head is cast, withtwo small core-prints on each side.

, After an impression of the pattern has been moulded, I place two smallrods r 1* across the mould, the ends of which rods rest in the aforesaidprints.

On the rods r fr, I place the link o, when the mould is closed andfilled, when the link o is entirely encased by the cast-metal, while theends of the rods r r are afterwards cut off even with the outer surfaceof the draw-head A.

The parts are all arranged so as not to extend beyond the outer surfaceof the draw-head, so thatin case the draw-heads, (as the cars collide,)should slip past each other, or lock, there will be nodauiage done to.'

the workingparts of the coupling.

A car provided with this coupling, can be coupled to a car with anordinary coupling.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let-y ters Patent, is-

l. The pin C, provided with its bevelled end a, and

lprojection c, in combination with the. slot- Dand slotted spring E,substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination and arrangement of the rod k, lever e, slotted springE, and pin C, substantially as and for the purpose described.

, O. D. \VOODRUFF.

Vitnesse's z L. A. MUNSON, J AMES SHEPARD.

